The Arizona sentinel., 1887-04-30


 Next to the Church of the Dominican Fathers on the corner of Lexington avenue and Sixty-sixth street stands a pleasant, old-fashioned house formerly used by the parish clergy as resi- dence It is now occupied by the Roman Catholic Sisters Of Bon Secours as their home. The sisterhood in this country is under the charge of Sister Madeleine de Pazzi, who is the Mother Superior of the Order in America.
 ''So you want some facts about our Sisterhood?" she said to a Graphic writer, one afternoon this week iI the neatly furnished parlor of the Home. 'They will not be very hard 70 furnish. Although we are not very old Tn America we have been long, established in Europe. Our community was founded in 1S40 by Father Paul Sebastien Millet, in Arcis Sur Aube, France, and it differs very largely from all other religious orders, both in regard to our work and the rules under which we live. There are Sis ters, you know, who attend patients in hospitals, some who take care of orphans and foundlings, others who devote themselves to educating child ren, and still others who give them selves up to the care of the aged poor of both sexes and the reclamation of fallen women. Our work is very differ ent. We simply nurse the sick at their homes. We take care of the sick of both sexes, of all nationalities and of every possible rank and station in life, from the richest to the poorest. We are trained nurses. We have now about 1,500 sisters and 130 houses in England, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Algiers, France and America. The Mother House is in Troyes, France. The order is under the direction of a Mother Superior General, who makes her home in that city, and from whom all our rules and orders come. Her authority is absolute, the Pope alone having jurisdiction over her. She sends us wherever she pleases. I might be recalled by telegram to France at any moment should she so desire. Each house is in charge of a sister who is responsible to the Mother Superior General.
 "The order has found an abundance of work to do ever since its founding, and many more Sisters could be em- ployed than we have. We nurse the sick in their homes, and go with them in their travels if it is desired. A Sis ter, for instance, nurses a patient in Rome, and when he is convalescing and wants to return to his home, say, in Russia, the Sister accompanies him thither and remains with him until he has fully recovered. Some of our Sis ters follow their patients all over the continent, never relinquishing their care until their services are no longer required. Even in this country I have sent Sisters to Boston, Buffalo, Albany and other cities with patients, and have in some instances sent Sisters to those cities in response to requests from families living there.
 'tAs to our pay. We never ask for any money from those we nurse. They may give little or much, or even noth- ing, just as they feel inclined. Still, enough is given to sustain the Order and make it self-supporting. We nurse the poor as readily as we do the rich. One of our aims is to pre- vent poor mothers from being sent to hospitals, where that may be done with safety to the public health. When a poor woman is taken away from her home to a hospital, her children are certain to suffer, her hus- band has no one to prepare his meals for him and often seeks his recreation in public houses. Many times a Sister not only attends the sick woman, but looks after her children as well and cooks the fathers meals. We are al- lowed no servants in our house, as its required that we should be proficient in all departments of housework for just such cases as this. So the work is not so much of hardship as might be imagined. When Sister nurses in a poor family she generally remains all night with her patent, going home only for six hours rest and one substantial meal, without which she would be un- able to pursue her work.
 ''No, we never talk religion with our patients unless it is in answer to ques- tions, and then only with adults. We never talk of such matters to children. We nurse people of all religious creeds and those who have no religion what ever. Some of our patients talk of nothing but religion, and others never mention that subject at all"
 "How did you happen to come to America P'' asked the writer,